2019-08-01_Reader_s_Digest_AUNZ

TheManintheIronMask

FrenchkingLouisXIVhadan

unidentifiedprisonerwitha mask

coveringhisface.Histrueidentity

hassparkedcountlesstheories,

booksandfilms,suchasthe 1998

filmofthesamenamestarring

LeonardoDiCaprio.Infact,hismask

likelywasn’tmadeofironatall,but

becamea popularmyththanksto

writingsbyVoltaireandAlexandre

Dumas.Historiansagreethatthe

mandidexistandwasprobably

reallywearinga blackvelvetmask

todisguisehisidentity.Theories

includea nobleman,a failed

assassinoreventhesecrettwin

brother of Louis XIV.SOURCE: HISTORY.COM

ComtedeSaintGermain

TheComtedeSaintGermainis

an18th-centuryadventurerand

philosopherwhosetrueidentity

isunknown,accordingtothe

EncyclopaediaBritannica. His

accomplishments– including

hismusicaltalents,chemistry

knowledge,andabilitytospeak

nearlyallEuropeanlanguages

• lenthimthenicknameof‘the
  Wonderman’.It’sa wonder,then,
  whyhisrealname,parentage,or
  placeofbirtharespeculativeatbest.
  HistravelstookhimfromFranceto
  EnglandtoRussiaandhemostlikely
  diedin1784,butpeopleclaimedto
  have seen him in Paris in 1789.

$200,000in$20

bills,about$1.2

millionintoday’s

dollars,accordingto

theEncyclopaedia

Britannica. Afterthe

planelandedandlet

out passengers, they

refuelled,andCooper

forcedthepilotsto

keeptheaircraftflying

under 3000 metresat

185 km/h.Thenhe

parachutedoutofthe

planewiththeransom

money in hand. No one

everidentified,caught,

orevenheardfrom

himagain.Although

heusedthenameDan

Cooper,a reporter

misheardthisasD.B.

Cooper,thusstarting

his popular epithet.

IMAGES: WIKIMEDIA; UNITED ARTISTS PICTURES

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